After breakfast I took a stroll along the beach to the fishing village. The objective to find a transfer boat to take us to Koh Kradan and the Emerald Cave, hence cutting out the astronomical mark-up charged by the hotel. The village was a mess and primitive, mostly shacks built on stilts. The beach the other side of the jetty was full of fishing related debris. The old folks were lounging out, a group of ladies were busy with pestles and mortars and in a shed ...

So - the big day arrived: time to explore the island under our own pedal power. A sketch map at reception showed a route through the fishing village and rubber plantation to the other resort on the island: Charlie Beach. We set off around lunchtime as we were desperate to eat somewhere other than the hotel restaurant. The weather had taken a turn for the worse, with intermittent showers and a strengthening breeze. The journey took us through the village where ...

Started the day with a DVD - a touching story about 2 pretty young American heiresses who lost it all and then proved the CEO of their dad's company was trying to rip them off. Late breakfast followed by some lounger, book and swimming. Thee was a strong cooling breeze and the sea looked quite rough. Good job I didn't get round to booking the snorkel trip then…. To take a break from the stress I cycled to the village to collect more water: normal waves and ...

Finally - a decent breakfast buffet. Made it to the pool for about 10 and lazed round until lunch. Annelise was pondering the next stage of our route. It seemed logical to extend our stay in Koh Muk to give us another couple of days to plan. The sound of the longtail fishing boats driving past was almost as hypnotic at the Qunci groove and I was snoozing before long. The air was very still and humid. Fortunately the pool water was cool and the coconut tree can...

Which beach to head off to? Over breakfast we decided on Koh Lanta, quickly packed and the hotel driver took us to the ferry terminal. We soon got wise to the fact that most people here have some angle they want to play and here was no exception, with tourist touts posing as officials. The cheap ferry was obviously the preferred backpacker mode of transport and A-lo's wheelie bag stood out like an air con unit at a 400 Baht a night resort. The real comedy mome...